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Friday, 25 August 2017

When people speak out against “identity politics,” as many, typically straight cisgender affluent white men seem to want to do lately, there’s a subtext and a whole lot of missed perspective... But Her Identity Politics! - Skeptical Humanist

Wednesday, 23 August 2017

Good morning, children. Today’s lesson will cover pseudoscience, bigotry and quackery all in one go, as we dissect a hysterical and piece of Dunning-Kruger on transgenderism. The perp? Step forward Joy Pullmann, formerly of the climate change-denying Heartland Institute and current managing editor of the far-right website The Federalist, whose motto is, ominously enough in a time when armed Nazis openly walk the streets looking for trouble, Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray...

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

What does the phrase “LGBT community” mean to you? Chances are if you don’t identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans yourself, you might think about what you’ve seen on TV – so Queer as Folk, Orange is the New Black, or The L Word , to name a few TV hits. It might also bring to mind images of brightly coloured rainbow flags or Pride parades.

But just stop for a minute and think about how often you’ve heard someone talk about “the heterosexual community”? Rarely I imagine – but the term “LGBT community”, or sometimes “gay community”, is frequently used by pretty much everyone...

Friday, 4 August 2017

I admit the penis is not my professional wheelhouse but after someone sent me the horror that is Jiftip the Diktip I could not resist. After all Alex Jones has proven that men are equally vulnerable to snake oil and I do not want any guys trying this or any female partners getting pregnant because of it (it seems aimed at that demographic).

The product, Jiftip, is an adhesive plaster for the penis. Like a penis Post-It Note (sorry 3M).

I believe this image says it all.

First of all there are no studies. Yes, I looked. As far as medical products go “beta-testing” appears to be snake oil Parseltongue for send-us-your-cash-we-have-done-absofuckinlutely-no work-on-this-what-so-ever-but-it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-3 a.m. Ethical researchers do not release “beta” products they complete Phase 1 studies and then recruit for Phase 2 studies.